CHICAGO, Ill. -- Maranatha's season ended Saturday after an 0-3 loss to No. 1 Grace Christian in the NCCAA Midwest Region Championship. 

The Sabercats ended the match with 32 kills, led by Arielle Henkel and Kiarra Henkel who recorded 13 and 10 respectively.

Seniors Megan Miller and Emily Johnson both ended their careers by achieving milestones over the weekend. Johnson ended with 3500 career assists and Miller surpassed 1000 career digs, finishing with 1021.

OVERVIEW

• Results: Maranatha 0-3 Grace Christian (15-25, 20-25, 22-25)
• Venue: Solheim Center - Moody Bible Institue
• Location: Chicago, Illinois
• Event: NCCAA Midwest Region Championship
• Records: No. 2 MBU (16-15), No. 1 GCU (16-9)

STORY

After a 3-0 sweep of Emmaus in the region semi-final the night before, it seemed the Sabercats' energy had been depleted. This was noticeable from the very start as Maranatha began the set with three hitting errors in a row. 

The Sabercats started to heat up a little in the middle of the set, bringing the score to 9-12. But the Tigers' Morgan Martin found her spark on the front line and paved the way to a 25-15 Grace victory. 

Set two had an opposite start, as Arielle Henkel gave her team a 3-0 lead with back-to-back-to-back kills. It seemed that the set would be going in favor of the Sabercats, but Grace quickly turned things around, stealing the lead and earning a 25-20 win.

With the season on the line, Maranatha fell behind 0-4 at the start of the third set. But while there were a few times Grace thought they were pulling away, the Sabercats fought back to keep things interesting. A couple of kills from Kiarra Henkel contributed to a late four-point run, bringing the Sabercats deficit to just one point (18-19). 

Grace took a strategic timeout to put a pause to the Sabercats run. This timeout served its purpose, leading to a couple of Maranatha errors, and giving control back over to Grace who ended up taking the set 25-22. 

It was not the end that the Sabercats had hoped for, but with a young team, Maranatha showed a lot of improvement from beginning to end. 

--

MBU Starters: 3-Johnson, 7-Steuerwald, 13-Swaffer, 15-Bartlett, 21-A. Henkel, 22-Miller (Libero), 23-K. Henkel

STATS 

• MBU 32 K, 29 A, 57 DIGS
• Johnson: 27 A, 13 DIGS
• A. Henkel: 13 K, 3 BLKS
• K. Henkel: 10 K, 5 DIGS
• Miller: 13 DIGS, 2 A
• Last Time: Maranatha defeated Grace Christian 3-1 on September 30, 2023
• Series: Maranatha leads in the all-time series against Grace Christian 27-1

OPPONENT

• Grace Christian competes with Maranatha in the National Christian College Athletic Association Midwest Region
• Grace Christian finished the 2022 season with a record of 11-15

NEXT

This concludes the Maranatha 2023 Volleyball season. Follow all the action at mbusabercats.com/schedule.